Someone Like You
by Paper-Dreams-Are-Made-Of-These
Summary: Valentine’s Day. Flowers, rumors, complications, insults wars, secret admirers, plots, fan girls, love, miracles, and...bad singing? You gotta love high school. .:Pokéshipping, Contestshipping, Ikarishipping:. COMPLETE!
1. Homeroom

Hey, everyone! I know it's been a long time since I've actually wrote something, but I'm back from the catastrophe of DSD -again, sorry if there's anyone on here that loved that story. There's not much to say, but all the love I have for my readers and certain people that will be mentioned in the dedication

**Pairings: **Pokéshipping, Contestshipping, Ikarishipping, Brock x Suzy. There's some other minor parings too. For all those who forgot, Suzy is the breeder from season one who came back and left with Zane. I like to think that Brock doesn't die alone.

**Tagline: **Valentine's Day. Flowers, rumors, complications, insults wars, secret admirers, plots, fan girls, love, miracles, and…bad singing? You gotta love high school.

**Summary: **It's Valentine's Day for our gang. Cliché, no? Guess again. Anything that can go wrong will. Who knew getting the girl or guy could be so damn hard?!

**Rating: **T for Teen for language and stalking. (And there's a lot of it, if you look at it in a certain way.)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pokémon, I don't own any songs that are used, and any similarities between this story and your life are purely coincidental. Well, unless you're me. :D

**Author's Notes: **The gang's fourteen/fifteen, except for Brock and Suzy, who are sixteen. The setting is in a Alternate universe, and everyone's in high school. If you've ever seen Love, Actually (amazing movie) or are going to see Valentine's Day, you'll be familiar with the switching of points of view.

**Dedication:** I'd like to dedicate this story to four special guys in my life. Chances are that you won't even read this (unless I email you the link and make you read it.) But I still want them to know that without their support, this story wouldn't be ready. First and Foremost; to Tom, my boyfriend of almost two years. Thank you for being my reluctant audience and for putting up with my insane deadline. You are amazing and I owe everything to you. Next, to DJ for actually listening to my ramblings of everything in general and talking to me when I really needed someone to listen to. And thanks for reassuring my doubts. Third: to Adam, my sorta pen pal and someone who can read my mind without even being in the same room as me. You too put up with the insanity (the good and bad), and for that I am forever grateful. Lastly, to John who is my partner in crime and encourages the insanity in me. You rock! **Thank you all so much for lifting me up when I was down. This one's for you.**

* * *

~ **S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou ~

**.:Homeroom:.**

* * *

"Valentine's Day sucks."

Misty Waterflower was shuffling along the cheaply painted hallway of Goldenrod High School. Every few feet there were party decorations celebrating the holiday. Misty was staring heatedly, fire in her crystal blue eyes, at a huge heart with lace fringing its edges.

"Aw, C'mon Mist. It's not that bad!" argued May Maple, who was walking the main hall with her. May, her best friend since elementary school, had a small smile on her face, brightness in her sapphire eyes. Misty also noted that she was wearing a red sweater.

"Right," Misty responded sarcastically. She, on the other hand, was wearing her favorite Old Navy yellow shirt with her dark jeans. Misty had considered wearing black to commemorate Valentine's. "What better way to invite the stalkers than an anniversary of love?"

"Oh, don't talk to me about stalkers!" May responded, pulling on her chestnut pigtails. "You have admirers! I have Harley!"

Misty giggled. It was true that she could hardly compare her 'friends' to May's number one 'fan'. Ever since she had become the lead anchor of _Goldenrod High School Live_, the school's news broadcast that aired every day, she had gotten admirers. There was the normal flower and the usual "Hey May, great job on the Show!" which was all fine. Then there were the scary gifts, such as finding lumps of shredded flowers in the bottom of her locker and the rare letter describing how lovely she looked when she was washing her hands in the girls' room.

It had been discovered back in November that all these gifts were organized by Harley Davidson. Harley was the overly feminine and flamboyant senior. He had long purple hair and was forever wearing shocking green. Harley had been orchestrating the disturbing declarations not to show his crush for May, but his animosity.

Harley was outraged that the lead anchor spot was stolen from him by a lowly freshman. Since he was discovered as the 'Secret Admirer', he'd forced other creepy followers on May instead. He seemed content with making her life hell indirectly.

"Well, you do tend to meet some interesting people when you go to high school," Misty snickered

"Or in other words, the freaks come out at Goldenrod." May groaned.

"Well, "Misty said, noting her classroom was coming up. "Just avoid him. Don't do anything that says 'Stalkers Welcome!' I gotta go. See you in Earth Science?" Misty asked her best friend.

"Yep! See ya!" May waved as Misty entered into her Theatre Class. Turing her head back to make sure Misty was in the classroom, May smiled mischievously. She then ran down the almost deserted hallway.

* * *

Drew Hayden glanced at his expensive watch as Goldenrod High School's enormous building structure came into view. 7:00. He smiled down at his wrist. Good. Just enough time to get things ready.

Drew turned to snatch up his jet-black backpack and pulled it up his shoulders. After making sure it was securely on, he gently grasped the large bouquet of roses. Pausing, his intent lime eyes examined the flowers once more to ensure that they were perfect. Drew fixed a folded edge of the white wrapper that held the spray together into upright position.

Satisfied, he opened the door of a white limo and shut it quickly. Drew hurried up the monstrous flight of stone steps to enter the pristine school. With a free left hand, he yanked up the collar of his wine colored jacket to protect his neck from the biting breeze.

_Better hurry up. This wind could kill my flowers._

Drew sped into a run as he reached the oak doors. Pushing them open, he hurried indoors. He had a lot to accomplish…

* * *

"Stupid balloons," grumbled Brock Slade as he fought his was across the windy and wintry parking lot. He had a dozen balloons, all shaped like red and white hearts. The tanned sophomore also carried a large wreath of roses, all organized in a huge heart. With his arms full, he couldn't jam his freezing hands in his earthen shaded coat.

"The things I do for some people…." He muttered, a lash of wind whipping though his spiky black hair. He searched for a black Prius. Knowing Erika, she probably parked it as close to the greenhouse she could get. Leave it to her to drive an eco-friendly car and place it somewhere near flowers.

Finally reaching the greenhouse, Brock had located the expensive looking Prius. Quickly, he glanced at his digital wristwatch. Ten minutes before class starts. More gales blustering at him, Brock hurried to the car so he could get this over with.

After tying the balloons to the wreath and placing the wreath on the hood of the car, Brock stepped back and examined his handiwork. It looked nice, he admitted. Surely, Erika would…

"OH, MY GOD!"

Brock turned around quickly, startled by this loud exclamation. He saw Zoey Williams, in all her brilliant orange hair splendor, staring at him with wide eyes.

Stupidly, Brock wondered why she was looking at him like that. Then, realization dawned on him. The flowers and balloons he placed on Erika's car.

It made him, Brock Slade, look like he was cheating on Suzy.

In front of Suzy's friend.

Oh, shit.

"Wait, Zoey, It's not what yo-"

But the damage was done. Zoey was already running towards the west gym entrance, ignoring Brock's explanation. Her vermillion red jacket flew frantically behind her.

When the door had slammed, Brock hung his head, ignoring the bitter cold.

* * *

Ash Ketchum was pacing the Band room anxiously. He had always spent the beginning of the school day. Normally, he spent his homeroom period catching up with other Band Geeks such as himself. But today, he was alone, thank goodness.

He just wanted to hide.

He choked on a laugh. He was Ash Ketchum, for God's sake! He was one of the most popular freshmen at Goldenrod High and one of the best drummers in Johto, and he was hiding from his first class.

No, he shook his head vehemently, so hard that his ink messy hair shook. He wasn't hiding from Theater Class. He was hiding from a person.

More specifically, a redhead.

Ash groaned and glanced down at his hands. He was holding a lovely bouquet of white, pink, and red Carnations. Clear plastic crinkled from moving his gloved hands from underneath it. A brilliant red ribbon was tied cheerfully around the plastic covering the green stems.

Ash groaned yet again, closing his chocolate eyes. He was somewhat capable of acting in front of all the students in his Theater Class, perfectly able to play his drums in front of thousands of people, and he couldn't give Misty some stupid flowers!

_Damn this stupid idea…_ he growled to himself. _Why did I ever agree to doing this again?_

The door creaked open. Startled, Ash shoved the flowers behind his back. The last thing he needed was to someone see him holding flowers.

Lucky for him, it was May.

Unfortunately, it was May.

May and him had gone way back, all the way to Earl's Day Care Center. They had been best friends since day one. Being best friends had some advantages, such as to know her fears and what would press May's buttons. However, there had been some moments where it kinda sucked.

Such as times like these.

"Ash! What the heck are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class!" May crossed her arms over her vibrant red sweater, blue eyes glinting evilly. The benefits of being best friends since preschool meant you could read each other like a book. And May was an avid reader. Through all the petty arguments the two had, she could see the growing attraction between the two.

And May would be damned if the Ash and Misty wouldn't end up as a couple by the end of the day.

Ash laughed nervously at May's murderous expression. Hey, what can he say? When he's confronted with a stressful experience, he just laughs. Sure, it's gotten him in a load of trouble when he did it at the wrong time.

And it appeared that it was one of those moments.

May strode across the band room in three swift steps and roughly grabbed the front of his black hoodie and dragged him forward. His nose was one inch from her own, and he could hear her growling in her throat.

"Ash Ketchum, you better get your little butt out there and give Misty the flowers or so help me you won't go within five feet without seeing a baby picture!" she snarled.

He gulped. _Now I remember why… because May bought them and shoved them in my hand fifteen minutes ago. _

"B-but May!" he sputtered, resisting.

"But what?!"

"What – what if s-she doesn't want them?"

May blinked, startled and pulled her head back, tawny hair swaying abruptly. "Why wouldn't she want flowers? **Any **girl wants flowers, Ash! And she really wants you to give them to her," May said incredulously.

Ash gasped for air; he felt like he was suffocating in May's personal space. He pulled out too, letting May's hand fall freely to her side. "She's always complaining about how bad he luck sucks with guys. Remember the Rudy incident?"

She groaned, rolling her eyes. "Ash. Don't be an idiot. She really likes you; she's been waiting for you since the seventh grade." Ash blinked and began smiling. "But-" May interrupted his joy, "if you don't make a move, someone else will." Ash blinked again, comprehending this.

"So! " May was now pushing him out the double doors, "Get out there and show her how you feel!" As soon as the doors slammed behind him, the clanging of the first bell had started to 'ring'.


	2. First Period

~ **S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou ~

**.:First Period:.**

* * *

The warning bell droned overhead as May fumbled with her combination lock. After pushing Ash into his Theater classroom, she had scurried to room 107 for her first period class. But, thanks to Ash's butterflies, she'd forgotten some _GHS Live_ production notes. As Lead Anchor and production manager, she couldn't be seen as unreliable. Especially not with Harley looking for every chink in her armor….

"Come on!" May kicked her locker after her combination refused to open.

"Um… May?"

"Yeah, what?" She snapped, turning to face the speaker.

It was none other than Drew Hayden, leaning against the lockers like a scene from a teenage love story. He looked like he emerged from a romance novel himself, with his perfectly sculpted face set with luminous viridian eyes and thick green locks. There was no question to why he was known as Goldenrod High's Prince.

"Drew!" May gasped "Um… What's up?" She and Drew were friends since their middle school days. After the eighth grade graduation, the two had gone their separate ways. May had seen Drew around, often flanked by his fan club.

He shrugged. "Not much."

"Okay…Well, if you don't need anything, I really got to open my locker…" May turned back to her lock.

"Actually, I do have something for you." Drew pulled out a beautiful bouquet of tall, lush roses from behind his back. "Careful," he cautioned while handing them to her. "They still have thorns."

"But….why?" she asked, holding the bouquet gingerly in her arms.

Drew smiled. "I want you to be my valentine."

* * *

"Augh, Stupid Paul." complained Dawn Jenness. Wearing a pastel pink shirt, she held her arm upright, elbow on the desk, holding her chin up with a tight fist. Her dark hair was loosely hanging at midback, cobalt eyes dim with anger.

"What did he do this time?" Kenny Krempa said boredly. He was used to his old friend moan about her latest love interest. It was an unsaid tradition between the two by now, Dawn whined and Kenny listened. Dawn finished whining, Kenny offered his advice. (Often it was along the lines of "forget the moron!") It was a comforting cycle that started in the first twenty minutes of English. Kenny was resting his head on his arms that were lying on his desk, pale green sleeves of his sweater scratching his cheeks.

"He got himself landed in ISS," replied Dawn, lowering her arms to compulsively smooth her white skirt.

"What for?" Kenny said with new interest, lifting his head up slightly. Paul only got in In School Suspension once and that was for getting in a fight with Ash Ketchum in Detention…which was rather stupid. He had received the Detention for fighting with him in the first place.

"I don't know, probably something stupid." Dawn said in annoyance.

"And….why're you complaining about it again?"

"Because that-" Dawn pointed at the quiet Sabrina Ortiz. Sabrina was receiving a very large Gengar Plush Toy from her boyfriend Morty Rannells. "That's the reason I want him in school!"

"Meaning?" Kenny scratched his russet head, confused. Sabrina was now giving Morty one of her ever rare smiles. She was hugging the purple PokéDoll softy.

"Meaning I wanted to have someone do that for me! Give me chocolates and flowers, clichéd things like that!" moaned Dawn, now bending down to rifle through her yellow messenger bag at her feet, carefully so that her skirt wouldn't rise too much over her black leggings.

Kenny sweat dropped. "Um…Paul doesn't seem like the type to do stuff like that, Dawn…and…I don't think he even knows you exist!"

"I know, but it can't hurt to pretend!" she insisted. She was rummaging through her bag a little more insistently "That's weird…" she mumbled, trying to mask her growing panic. "I thought brought it…"

* * *

The annoying metallic bell rumbled overhead as Paul Rebolledo began thumbing though a composition notebook. He was sitting on the dirty floor, uncaring that he had no idea what was down there in the first place.

Paul normally would be sitting in his seat of his Honors English class, but he decided to skip the usual banter with Professor Blaine. Who in their right mind would make that old man an English teacher anyway? All they learned was the proper way to talk in questions! Although, answering Blaine's absurd riddles with returning puzzles was very entertaining.

He decided to break up the normal monotony. Paul had planned just sneaking out and heading to a Starbucks, but he found some random notebook in the main hallway.

It wasn't your average notebook….it was, well, girly.

The white was colored in with a shocking pink sharpie. Whoever owned it had a lot of free time. And wasn't very bright. They had stuck a huge sticker of a mid-chirp Piplup over the place where you were supposed to write your name. Other various stickers were scattered across the cover, Aipoms grinning and Pachirisu smiling widely.

And this person was in _High School?_

Paul rolled his coal eyes, pushing his wild mane of dark hair from his forehead. He flipped though the book. Surely its idiotic owner would have their name somewhere.

As he suspected, the writer was as stupid as he thought they were. Not only was their name not written in the inside cover, but almost all of its content was doodles and drabbles. Once in a while there were some childlike sketches with intent detail. Paul snorted as he passed a page with a chibi drawing of Professor Blaine was bellowing at the artist. His wide glasses shined maniacally, his grey hair tufting crazily. Lead etched spit flecked on the page. Paul turned the page, half amused. His curiosity was piqued, wondering what absurd antic would appear on the next loose leaf.

Paul blinked, in a rare moment of shock.

There was a bunch of hearts sketched on the page. And most of them included the initials D J and P R. It took a second to register that P R was his initials.

So. He had an admirer. Paul wondered who it was, humorously. Lucky for him, one of the rare hearts had their full names.

Paul Rebolledo and…..

Paul smirked evilly.

* * *

"You're late, Mr. Ketchum." Koga said darkly from his desk in the back. The dark haired theater teacher was a bit unorthodox from normal high school standards. He was a foreigner from Kanto, refused the title 'professor' and claimed he was a world class ninja. Ash, out of curiosity, actually did a quick search for Fuchsia City on the internet to see if he was really from there. Surprisingly, the city did exist, and Koga Doksu was a prominent figure. He once owned a dojo and he led a band of ninjas in training.

Whatever he was doing in Johto was a mystery that often bothered his students.

"Um…yeah, Koga, I was late and the office ran out of passes….again…" Ash lied, scratching his head. He often used this excuse when he overslept.

Koga leaned across his desk, narrowing his dark eyes at his pupil, almost if he analyzed what he said. Smirking a little, he pushed backwards, his ninja attire swishing. "You've proven your worth, Mr. Ketchum."

Ash blinked, confused. "Uh…thanks, Koga." _Whatever __that__ meant, _He thought to himself. He walked back to his seat, swearing he could hear a cackle from his teacher.

"Hey, Ash!" Misty looked up from her book to smile at her friend.

"H-hey, Mist." Ash stuttered slightly as he sat down sloppily in his seat. He slipped his backpack off easily and carelessly dropped it on the dirty floor next to his desk. Ash placed the plastic bag that May gave him gently on his desktop.

"You know, Koga's wrong." Misty replied easily, turning back to her book.

"Huh?"

"He's wrong when he says that you proved your worth." Misty replied, never taking her eyes from her book. "You told that lie to Bruno when you were late to gym. Koga just probably thinks you're working on your 'ninja skills' or whatever.

"Hey!" Ash frowned "How do you know that my bus didn't come late that time and this time?"

Misty smirked, setting down her book. "You don't exactly need a bus pass to make it to sixth period, do you? Besides, you should've seen yourself when you were lying to Koga. 'Er… Koga.... my dog ate my bus pass!'" Misty croaked in rough voice, octaves lower than it normally was.

"My voice doesn't sound like that!" Ash indignantly exclaimed.

"Does too." Misty grinned.

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Does…. hey, why are you laughing?"

"Because," Misty giggled, "We're freshmen in high school and we still resort to shouting at each other about silly things, and we _**always **_seem to end up with that."

"We do not!" Ash retorted quickly, but he felt his mouth curving to a smile as well.

Misty chucked again, smiling.

_She's so beautiful when she smiles… _

"Ash?"

Ash shook his head frantically, trying to erase that thought from his head. "Um, yeah?"

"What's up? You had a goofy look on your face." the red-head gazed at him, curiosity evident in her sparkling blue eyes.

_Wow… her eyes are so amazing. They sparkle like sapphires in sun- _

"Nothing's up!" Ash answered loudly, trying to drown out the poetic mindset that Misty always seemed to throw him in lately. _Or maybe it was that movie Mist made me sit through the other day…_

"Okay, then…" she answered disbelieving, still frowning. Her blue eyes glittered with the concern that played on her face.

"Really, Misty, nothing's wrong. I just remembered that I forgot to take out the trash this morning. " Ash fibbed easily.

"All right. You know, you can tell me whatever's wrong. I'll listen. You know that, right?"

_Really? I can tell you that I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen? That you drive me crazy, you've been driving me crazy since the eighth grade, with your taunting and your concern? That you make me insane with these romantic thoughts that I've never had before I've ever met you? That I love the way you smile, how it lights your entire face up, how your eyes sparkle when you do? _

"Yeah, Mist. I know. Thanks."

Misty held Ash's gaze for a moment longer _(gleaming pools of crystallized- _man, where did he get these thoughts?!) and went back to her book.

Ash started to fidget in his seat, playing with the plastic bad that sat on his desktop for a while. _Do I give it to her now? Or later? Or maybe I should give it to her after school or something… Or, or, what if I run out to the drug store and get some chocolates? Girls like that kinda stuff-_

"I almost forgot! You'll never guess what happened this morning!" Misty interrupted Ash's stream of panic.

"You're right, so why don't you just tell me?" he asked.

"When I came in this morning, I found this on my desk!" she reached under her desk and produced a single red rose. "Can you believe it?" Misty's face broke into a wide smile.

_No. No, I can't, _Ash thought, his heart sinking to his stomach. His mouth suddenly felt coated in cotton, as he choked some words out "Did….Do you know who it's from?"

"No…but he left a note tied to it! It says, 'Misty- you are the woman beyond my dreams. Meet me by the track field after sixth period. Your secret admirer.'" Misty sighed. "The woman of his dreams! Isn't that romantic?"

"Y-yeah, I guess…" _No, it's not romantic at all. This guy sound like some stalker! _"Are you going to meet him?"

Misty positively beamed. "Of course! He could be the man of my dreams, and I don't want to miss out on that." She put her nose to the flower and smelled. "To think I actually thought this day would suck."

_Yeah. I spend a year agonizing over telling Misty that I love her and some mystery man just sweeps her off her feet in thirty minutes. _Ash thought bitterly. Silently, he put his bag of flowers underneath his desk while Misty rolled her rose in her hand.

* * *

"Suzy…."

"No, Brock. Not this time! Never again!" Suzy Applebaum hissed across the table at her lab partner and boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend, the way things were looking. Brock had never seen Suzy so pissed. Her hazel eyes were alit with a furious fire that made her willow green hair harsh against her fair skin.

"Suzy, Zoey didn't know what she was seeing!" Brock desperately tried to explain. "I was not leaving flowers for Erika. If you'd just-"

"No, Brock! I am done with listening. I'm tired hearing rumors of you flirting. I'm tired watching you drool over other girls." Suzy suddenly sighed. She looked into Brock's squinted eyes. "Do you understand why I can't do this anymore?"

Brock sighed. It was true that at moments he wasn't the perfect boyfriend. He was so used to hitting on girls; he couldn't easily turn it off. But where Misty and May would yank his ear for looking at another woman, Suzy would easily take him as he was.

"I'm sorry for the things in the past, Suzy. But I would never even think of another woman on Valentine's Day."

Suzy smiled sadly, a smile that nearly broke his heart. "The thing is, Brock, you never had a problem with it in our past. And I can't forget that."

And with those words, the metallic bell buzzed. With a rush, other students scraped their chairs back with a clamor and a buzz of chatter. Amidst the noise, Suzy squeezed his hand once, and left the room. She left Brock alone once more, in the freezing cold.


	3. Second Period

**Author's Note: **I fixed some mistakes in the previous chapters, just so you all know! Enjoy! :)

Oh, and thanks, earlymorninglight12 for giving me my fun fact of the day. If you were wondering, **Breedershipping **is the offical name for **Brock x Suzy. **

* * *

~ **S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou ~

**.:Second Period:.**

* * *

In all honesty, Dawn couldn't say she loved her high school. Oh, sure, she liked it well enough. The classes were great, the teachers weren't total jerks, and the cafeteria food was better than other schools. She even made great friends here.

Dawn loved people, and Goldenrod High was filled with people. But she couldn't say she loved people so much that she needed to be crammed into a narrow hallway with them for five minutes every hour.

_The thing about Goldenrod_, she thought to herself while plodding behind a heavyset junior, _is that it's the most crowded school in the district! I've spent five months here and the people seem to be walking slower as the year goes on. I mean,_ Dawn inwardly screamed at the chubby upperclassmen,_ would it kill you to walk faster?! _

When Dawn spotted the French room, she sighed in relief. French I was Dawn's favorite class. Professor Fantina shared her passion for France in every way. Not only did Fantina teach them to speak the language, she shared French culture with her students. From their daily lessons about French artwork and clothes, even the occasional dance lesson or two, Dawn had fallen head over heels in love with France as well.

_Now, if only I could have Paul __**and **__France… _Dawn blushed cherry pink at the mere thought of that. As quickly as the thought came, she shook it immediately out of her mind. Kenny was right. Paul didn't even know that she was alive, let alone that she had a crush on him. She would just have to accept that.

Eventually.

Dawn groaned out loud. When did she become this pathetic?!

She broke away from the streaming crowd of teenagers to get into French. Maybe some European culture could help her forget her pitiful life.

A flash of plum-purple caught Dawn's eye when she walked towards the classroom's door. As she turned her head to the color, she stopped dead in her tracks.

It was Paul. Obviously, she was wrong about him being in ISS, he was just cutting class. He was leaning against the hideous cement-brick wall untouched, as if the entire school population were ghosts bustling around him. His black fleece coat was easily draped across his body like a second skin.

And his eyes...as soon she looked into his onyx eyes, she was gone. Looking into his eyes was like she was looking into the night sky on a cloudy, winter night…like she was the only person in the world…

A rough, sudden jab to her back brought Dawn back to the real world. Blinking dazedly, she barely heard the rude "Watch where you're going, ditz!" of a girl who bumped into her. Dawn looked again for Paul, just to see if she was dreaming.

But his face was gone from the maddening crowd.

The clanging bell rang overhead, and Dawn slowly entered the French classroom.

* * *

"She doesn't want to see you!" Zoey snarled across the aisle to her former friend.

"Williams!" Lieutenant Sarge barked from the chalkboard. "Is there something you don't understand about the lecture?"

"No sir." Zoey muttered.

"Good! Now pay attention!" The veteran continued his impassioned speech about the Vietnam War.

Ignoring their history professor, Zoey hissed to Brock, "She doesn't want to see you. So just give up and stop hurting her!"

"I don't want to see Suzy! I'm giving her some space. I wanted to talk to you, Zoey. Not Suzy." Brock whispered back to her.

"Well your luck's not getting any better, Slade. 'Cause I don't want to talk to you either."

"What you saw this morning-"

"I know _exactly _what I saw this morning!" the redhead snapped fierily. "You were leaving Erika some flowers!"

Brock growled, feeling the sudden urge to rip out his hair. Trying to talk some sense into Zoey had been his plan B. He stupidly thought that if he explained what he was doing this morning, maybe she could talk to Suzy.

What an idiotic idea.

"Look, I was trying to do a-"

"Do you have ANY idea what that girl went through just being your girlfriend, Brock? Do you know how many times I watched her stand by while you went gaga for another girl? How many times I watched her shove her tears away for you? Do YOU?" Zoey angrily ranted to him. As her voice rose, people started to stare.

"Yes, I'm AWARE, Zoey," Brock snarled. "How could I EVER forget with you reminding me at every damn turn? If you could just shut up for one minute I can explain!"

"Like I want to hear your excuses, you b-"

"WILLIAMS! One more outburst and I'll put you in ISS so fast you'll think your hair was on fire!"

* * *

For the fifth time in second period, May straightened the bouquet on her desk. Not only was it made of massive, lush roses, the desk wasn't even made for schoolwork. The tiny desktops were the only seats in the chorus room. Couldn't the Band just loan the Choir some chairs? Or maybe they could get some decent desks with under carriage bins to put oversized flowers…

"May," Professor Winona broke May's thoughts, holding out a stack of papers, "would you mind passing these papers out?" she asked in her low, breezy voice.

"Sure, Professor." May replied cheerfully, standing up. After passing the assignment out, she took her own back to her desk.

"Class," Professor Winona announced to the Voices Ensemble class, "since we all have a little time before preparing for the next concert, I have decided to begin a little music theory review, starting with this packet. You have the rest of the period to work on it."

May gathered the roses and gently placed them underneath her chair. Over the rough crinkling of cellophane, she could hear fierce whispers from other girls. A blonde freshman girl- May thought her name was Laura- was whispering the loudest, her quiet voice carried over her friends. She distinctly heard the words 'flowers' and 'boyfriend'.

Staring at the music theory packet, May tried to block them out and think about her homework.

But she just couldn't help her brain replaying the words she asked Drew before he left.

_"Is this a joke?"_

May inwardly groaned. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID! _she barely contained the urge to slam her head over her music homework. _I can't believe actually said that! Of __**course**__ it wasn't a joke! What the heck possessed me?! _

She remembered Drew's face a split second after saying those hideous words. It was a soft contortion of shock, disbelief, and something that made the corners of his mouth turn up. May couldn't place what it was until a short, mirthless laugh erupted from his throat.

"_No, May."_ A flicker of anguish crossed his face, marring his perfect face, _"It's not."_

May felt a shard of ice sliver down her throat and slowly sink to her stomach. Just remembering his face, his perfect face, twisted into such a raw expression of pain took the wind of her.

_I mean, _May though in disbelief, _this is Drew! The guy who spent seventh grade insulting me in every way thinkable! The first thing he ever said to me was 'Watch where you're going, idiot!' _She cringed, remembering the incident when she ran into him at the cafeteria. She had accidentally shoved his tray into his chest and it didn't help that it was Sloppy Joe Monday….

_He used to tease about that…even when we were friends. I just…don't know what happened between us. We haven't talked since we got to high school. And now this._

May sighed. _I don't know what to think to think anymore._

* * *

Misty couldn't help but smell her rose again, smiling from ear to ear. May would die when she told her! But she'd just have to wait- this news was just too amazing to say through text.

"Oh, Ash… " Misty murmured to herself.

_**Though, it is a little weird that he just didn't give it to me in Theater…**_the small nagging voice of doubt entered her head again.

_He was probably too shy to do it in front of the whole class. He wants to tell me in person…. He wants to tell me that he loves me…._

Misty sighed again, blushing a sweet shade of pink.

She shook herself from her dreamy thoughts of her and Ash on a romantic date in a candlelight café. _Let's not get carried away, Misty! __He might just tell you he likes you... That's all._

_**Or it could be something else entirely-**_

"Um, Misty?" Tracy Sketchit poked her in the arm, shattering her conversation with herself "Not to interrupt your daydreams but your phone just buzzed… really loudly."

"Huh? " Misty asked, oblivious

"You got a text. And everyone heard it."

"Oh!" Misty reached down into her bag and fished out her cell, feeling the class' eyes on her. She rested her forehead on her desktop, hiding her crimson face. Flipping open her Envy, she heard the conversation of her classmates fill the dead air again.

_You have __**1 **__New Text Message!_

Hitting the Okay button, she opened the text from an unknown number.

Misty blinked once. Twice. And Again.

_You can't be serious. MAY getting flowers from ASH? MAY? No way. I just can't believe that. Sure, she was holding a bouquet of flowers hen she went to her class, but that could mean anything!_

"Um… Misty? Misty?" Tracy poked her again in the arm, arm growing as he saw Misty turn to a very vivid shade of maroon. "Uh… are you okay?"

She couldn't hear Tracy. She couldn't even register the searing pain in her right hand as she gripped the phone as hard as she could. All Misty could hear was the roaring of an ocean, drowning out all thoughts but one.

_Ash. Giving May flowers. _

_What. The. __**Hell?!**_

* * *

I know, I'm evil with the cliffhangers. :) I just got to keep you all interested. And hopefully, I am!


	4. Third Period

**S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou

**.:Third Period:.**

* * *

Drew crossed his arms and leaned against the cold concrete bricks while he waited for the bell to ring. The school store wouldn't open until third period, but his only free period was just ending. And this order couldn't wait.

He frowned slightly, May's face haunting him. He remembered her eyes widening as he said those fateful words, recalling how her mouth formed a tiny O in surprise and how her face paled slightly.

_Did she really think it was just a joke? That I brought her the biggest bouquet of roses I grew as __**a joke**__?_ Drew thought, feeling as if someone punched him in the stomach. _How could it be?! I mean, we were inseparable in middle school! After all the teasing and talking… she could just dismiss that as a joke? _Drew sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. _We were best friends-_

Drew stopped. When did he start thinking about his relationship with May in past tense?

_I… I don't know anymore. Maybe- maybe that's the reason why she was so stunned. We haven't talked since June… so maybe it's because we don't see much of each other anymore. _

_Maybe she doesn't think we're friends anymore. _

* * *

As soon as the bell rang, Brock jumped out of his seat and began sprinting down the hallways as fast as he could. Since Plan B failed, he'd just have to apologize to Suzy again. And he'd have to be sneaky about it, since Suzy would just walk away as soon as she saw him.

He'd have to do something big to fix what hey royally screwed up.

Rounding the corner, he crashed into a guy in a purple jacket leaning against the wall. Brock grunted as he collided with him, nearly stumbling to the floor. After getting up, he heard the guy scoff, "Watch where you're going, idiot."

Brock ignored him and turned the doorknob. Locked.

"It's no good." The boy with the purple jacket told him, wiping dust off his coat. "They're running late today."

Brock growled, rattling the doorknob ferociously. "Yeah, well I need something right now-" he took a glance at the other boy and stopped. "Aren't you Drew Hayden?"

"The one and only," Drew smirked, flipping his green bangs off his forehead.

Disregarding Drew's haughty statement, Brock banged on the frost glass window on the door. "Come ON!"

"What's the rush? The manager's probably getting ready right now. There's no need to act like a monkey rattling the bars on his cage. Just calm down."

"Look," Brock snapped whirling to face the green haired teen, "I'm having a really bad day right now. It's Valentines' day and my girlfriend broke up me. And why? She's convinced that I'm a girl-crazy scumbag who left a valentine for some other girl and she dumped me. She won't speak to me, her friends give me the stink eye, and every damn time I try to apologize, she either yells that she won't listen to my excuses this time or runs off. I need some roses to apologize form my big screw up, and I needed them five minutes ago. So if you don't mind, I don't need a freshman to tell me 'calm down'. Okay?!"

Brock was panting after his almost-hysterical rant. His anger checked all of Drew's witty remarks. Instead, he said "Okay, sorry." and stepped back. Luckily, the door swung open at that moment.

"Yes!" Brock bolted into the store and quickly ran out, holding a half dozen, rather gigantic, red roses. He tore down the hallway, shoving people out of his way, his russet jacket flapping.

Drew blinked once and slowly entered the school store. Edging the counter, he took out his wallet from his plum coat. "I'd like to place a delivery."

* * *

"All right, class, take a seat and settle down." Professor Norman said with a boom over the student's voices. The teenagers slowly sat at their desks, still chattering with their friends.

Dawn, who had none of her friends in her Journalism class, was busy drawing some more chibi people on a scrap piece of paper. _I wonder where my notebook went, _She thought sadly. _That had some of my best drawings in it, and maybe some worthwhile doodles. _She sighed._ Oh, well. I could always start again and improve them along the way. Besides, it's all replaceable, it's not like it had something import- _Suddenly, an awful thought popped into her mind. The Dawn- and-Paul stuff!

_What if I dropped it? _Dawn swallowed nervously. _That would suck- No, that's worst than sucking. That would be the end of my life! Someone could… now, calm down, Dawn. You probably just left it under your bed again. _She smiled, letting the optimism flood her confidently. _Yeah, that's it! I just left it under my bed!_

"Today we're going to start a project," Professor Norman announced. He was interrupted by the groans of his students. "I know, I know. But face it guys, the Semester's almost over and I need at least one grade to put in."

Dawn giggled at the truth of this. Journalism was barely even a class. Norman would typically give the class a packet of five ridiculously easy worksheets to do for every two weeks. The rest of the period was devoted to the unruly conversations between students. Dawn would normally chip in once in a while, but not often. She was content to practicing drawing.

Norman grinned. "Besides, it's an easy one. All I'm asking is that you and a partner write pitch to obtain more funds for the school paper. That's not so bad is it? Knowing you guys, you'll be done before the class is over." Everyone murmured in agreement while Dawn frowned silently. _Group work? Who can I partner with?_

"And the best part is that I get to pick your partners!"

At this, loud "Aw, come on!"s and other grumblings erupted from the disappointed students. "Hey," Norman spoke, stilling smiling his winsome grin, "Thems the breaks." And with those words, the Professor started pairing off students at random.

"….and Dawn Jenness and Paul Rebolledo."

Dawn almost choked on her spit. _What?! I thought he was cutting class! _She turned around in her seat, dark hair flying, to look at her partner. Paul simply just raised an eyebrow. Then he noticed Dawn and her agape mouth and smirked.

Dawn almost choked again, her cheeks flaring a bright pink hue.

"All right! Now get to work!"

_You've __**got **__to be kidding me. _Dawn thought, her blush fading a little. _The guy I've been crushing on for six months and I'm finally going to speak to him? It's too good to be true! _

"Are you going to come over here or what?" A deep voice cut through Dawn's thoughts like a knife. Startled, she blinked and discovered Paul was still staring at her with a smirk painted on his face, a few seats behind her.

"Oh, right!" Dawn jumped out of her seat and tried to walk calmly over to Paul.

Despite all her daydreams about him, Dawn had never seen Paul Rebolledo up close and personal before. Oh, sure, she knew what he looked like. It was impossible not to notice him since she had three classes with him. She knew that he had purple hair and dark eyes framed by heavy eyebrows. He always looked still and confident in a silent way.

But no matter what it took, Dawn couldn't muster up the courage to look at him straight on. She could barely manage sideway glances in English and Math class, but those quick snatches were enough for her. But now she looked at his face.

She quickly discovered that a few of her cursory glances were right and wrong. His hair was purple, but it had an ashen shade to it, making it deep purple. It hung shaggily at his neck. Paul had almost circular cheekbones, but had angular chin. His bangs hung in a thick streak between his coal dark eyes.

A sharp jab to Dawn's thighs brought her crashing back to reality. Blinking, she realized she ran into Paul's desk.

Paul raised eyebrow at her quizzically. "Forgot where you're going?"

Dawn blushed a vivid red. "N-no! I just got lost in thought."

"It must be unfamiliar territory." he replied easily with a smug look.

The words hit Dawn like a harsh slap to the face. _Did he just…?_

"A-Anyway," she stuttered, trying to comprehend what he said, "I guess we should start on our project." Dawn sat down, opening her neon pink notebook. "I was thinking we could hold a fundraiser. Like we could promote something so we can raise enough-"

"That's stupid." Paul cut her off with a dead nonchalance. "Who'd ever do something like that?"

"Um, I would." Dawn answered, her patience wearing thin.

Paul paused here, turning to appraise Dawn. Taking in dark blue hair and her bright pink shirt, he smiled another arrogant smirk "Exactly."

Dawn felt the corners of her mouth twitch, "Excuse me? I think it's a great idea and I'm not stupid!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," his voice dripped with sarcasm, "calling you stupid is an insult to those who are."

Dawn clenched her fist so hard her knuckles when white and a loud SNAP! was heard. She broke her pencil. "I'm not beyond stupid!" she slammed the wooden pieces on her desk. She wished she throw them at his stuck-up face. "You…" she spluttered for a insult, "you jerk!"

Paul raised a bushy eyebrow. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to say 'I know you are, but what am I?"

"I… Whatever!" Dawn spat out, clearly out of comebacks. "And I suppose you have a cornucopia of ideas?" She threw in a vocab word from her English class's last unit for good measure.

"Just get local businesses to place an ad in the newspaper. Good publicity for them, and the paper gets funds."

"That…actually sounds like a good idea." Dawn said begrudgingly. "But," she hastily added, seeing the maddening smirk of his grow on his face, "you don't have to be a jerk about it."

"Well," Paul retorted coolly, without missing a beat, "try being smarter and I'll be nicer."

_Augh! _She mentally screamed. _This is Paul?! This… this creep?!_

"How're things going over here?" Professor Norman asked the pair. He was making rounds to check to see if the kids were working, stopping to answer a question or two. When he got to Paul and Dawn, Norman saw an unusual sight. The bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl was completely red in the face, glaring daggers at Paul. And Paul? For once, the sullen teen wasn't brooding. Instead of his usual glowering frown, a half-smile was in its place. He looked as relaxed as Dawn was livid.

"Oh, just fine, Professor." Dawn mananged to say from her clenched jaw. "Just fine."

* * *

He no longer thought of Misty. He no longer thought of her secret admirer or even his failed attempt this morning. He was in his own world right now, and those problems didn't exist in it. The only thing that mattered was the drum he was playing.

Ash pounded fiercely on the Tom set, letting this stick height rise wildly. Every time he beat the drum head, he felt the pulsing rhythm with his own heart. In a split second lapse, his problems came rushing back. _Who needs the dumb plan? Who needs May's dumb flowers? It wasn't even my stupid idea in the first place! _He thought hotly, betraying his own little world. _So what if someone gave Misty flowers? Who cares?! _

To punctuate his thoughts, his sticks hit the head of the toms uncontrollably, and the sound had become a pulse, a heartbeat that overtook every thought and every emotion. Ash played on, forgetting Misty completely, forgetting the class, forgetting even Valentine's Day. There was only the music.

"Ash! ASH!"

Ash dropped his sticks with a clatter on the floor. Professor Wallace, the band director, smiled at him. "The song ended."

"Oh." Ash laughed nervously. "Guess I got carried away." His classmates laughed.

"For such a raucous, coarse piece-" Professor Wallace grimaced. He preferred beautiful, flowing music of the wind instruments "-that sounded excellent. Especially your part, Ash." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Time to pack it up, everybody. Only five minutes left."

Suddenly, everyone was in a bustle to put small percussion instruments and sticks away. After throwing his sticks in the drawer where they kept most drum sticks, Ash turned to face his friend, Ritchie who was ginning slyly. "So… how'd it go?"

"What are you talking about?" Ash pushed past his fellow drummer to grab the toms.

"Oh, come on, Ash. It's Valentine's Day." Ritche stuffed his blue and yellow cap- that Professor Wallace made him remove- over his messy brown hair. "Something must've happened with you and your Mystery Girl."

"Yeah!" chimed in Barry, who was slipping the cover over the Vibraphone. Barry was the only mallet percussion specialist in Percussion Ensemble and the only guy who could play the Vibraphone with ease. "I mean, come on, you've been going on and on about 'she' and 'her' for months. Do you seriously expect us to believe that nothing happened?"

"Look," Ash grunted, positioning the drums with the other pieces of the drum set, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Ooh," Barry teased, "trouble in paradise?"

"I seriously doubt that, Barry." Ricthe said, shoving some triangle beaters in their cases. "You saw her this morning; she was bright red and carrying flowers!"

Ash snatched his backpack from the floor, fighting off the bubble of anger that lodged itself in his chest. "Seriously guys, shut up. I don't want to talk about this."

"Why not? Too embarrassed to introduce us to your new girlfriend?" Barry crowed, his green scarf bobbing.

"She's NOT my girlfriend! I didn't give her any flowers!" Ash yelled, his face turning a beet red.

"Aw, look, Ash is too embarrassed to say that May's his girlfriend!" Barry ribbed some more. "How cute!"

"Listen, you-" Ash paused, Barry's exact words cut through his red haze. "Wait a second. What did you say?"

"Ash, don't play stupid," Ritchie nudged him playfully. "We all know May's the mystery girl. I mean, everybody knows by now."

"No, just shut up and listen for a second. I didn't give May any flowers. Why would I? She's my best friend!"

Ritchie's playful smile slid slowly off his face. "What?"

"I had flowers for MISTY, you idiot! Not May!" Ash still had the bouquet stuffed in his band locker. He now wanted to take the flowers and knock his two friends on the head with them. A sudden thought hit him. He never told anyone he was interested in Misty except for May. So who… "Who's saying that I gave flowers to May?"

"Everyone, Ash. It's all over the school."

Ash slapped himself on the forehead. Any silver lining from the secret admirer business was just shot to hell. Great. Just great.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** My first big shot at Ikarishipping in this chapter... hopefully it was different than what you normally see on ! Well, actually... this entire story is a experiment in different ideas and Ikarishipping. And hopefully, the Ikarishippers won't kill me at the end. :P

This Chapter would be still in the works if it wasn't for Judy-Licious. Thanks. For everything.

And with luck, everyone had as much fun reading this chapter as I did writing it. :)

See you all tomorrow-

Paper-Dreams-Are-Made-Of-These


	5. Fourth Period

**~ S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou

**.:Fourth Period:.**

* * *

As the hated bell rang again, Brock crept out of the boy's bathroom slowly. _So this is what my Valentine's Day has been reduced to- acting like some kind of stalker. Actually, that hasn't happened since freshman year, _Brock sheepishly smiled in spite of his situation, _when I had that monstrous crush on Suzy._

"Back to square one." Brock murmured to himself cheerlessly. Carefully glancing around the hallway, he edged towards Suzy's math class.

With the roses, Brock had burst into Professor Pryce's planning period and asked him where Suzy Applebaum's desk was for Precalculus. Pryce showed no surprise at the sixteen-year-old's appearance in his room (despite never seeing him before) and ignored the fact that Brock's voice was cracking with franticness. He simply pointed to one that was in the front row. Brock arranged the flowers in a unique way that Suzy would just have to notice.

He had taken two of his roses and gently plucked their petals and scattered them on her desk and chair. Left with four flowers, he left three on her desk. Three was their special number- the same number of words in 'I love you'_. _Brock had also borrowed a piece of blank computer paper and folded it into a small note. The note, left on top of the flowers, only contained the basics.

_I love you. I'm so sorry… forgive me?_

_Love, Brock. _

Plan C just had to work… It just had to!

Brock positioned himself cautiously outside the classroom. If he stood in a certain angle, anyone would be sure to see him through the window on the door. He stood to the right, ready to duck out of sight if Pryce saw him hovering outside of his class. And it wouldn't look too good for him if Suzy saw him as some sort of stalker.

He watched as the white haired man stood in front of the class, obviously telling everyone to sit in their seats. Suzy finished laughing with Zoey- Brock growled, remembering History class- and walked over to her seat, smiling. Brock's heart lurched, seeing how beautifully vibrant she was, her hazel eyes glittering.

When she got to her seat, she stopped dead in her tracks. Brock held his breath, watching her slowly pick up the note and read it. The light faded from her eyes slowly, and she smiled a wistful smile.

Brock could hear from the hallway Pryce asking Suzy if there was a problem. She shook her head, no there wasn't a problem. Brock read Pryce's amused grin as he asked her to take a seat.

Suzy nodded, saying something that Brock couldn't quite make out. Quickly, she swept up the rose petals from her desk and seat into her hands. Brock's heart plummeted to his feet as he watched his girlfriend throw all the flowers in the trash can. She took her seat, still holding onto the note. Then she crumpled it up and took a shot at the wastebasket.

Slam dunk.

Brock slowly slunk away from the door as Pryce began the lesson. Plan C had failed. Now what was he supposed to do? He'd tried apologizing, he tried talking to Zoey, he tried leaving a valentine, but all had failed. What now? Just accept the fact that they were over?

_No_. Brock though with sudden fierceness, _I won't let it be over. Not until she understands that it was a mistake! _

But how? It would have to take one hell of a gesture to get Suzy's attention, something that she'd have to listen to. Something crazy, something that she'd never expect. Something that she'd just have to listen to.

"Something she'd have to listen to." Brock said out loud, a slow smile forming on his face.

* * *

"Hey, Misty!" May happily greeted her friend. She could banish Drew from her mind, for now at least. _Or maybe_ _I could talk to Misty about it! _That thought instantly cheered May up.

Misty, who took one look at May, and her face turned splotchy. In one quick motion, she crossed her arms and turned away with one "humph!"

May blinked, her bright smile melted like ice cream in July. "Okay?" She plopped her shoulder bag on the lab table next to the red head and placed the bouquet gently next to it and took her seat. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Why would you say something's wrong?" Misty said aggressively. "Nothing's wrong."

"Okay, then…" May trailed off. _What did I do? There goes talking about Drew…_Instead, she sighed, and brought out her Science binder, putting her bag under the table.

"So." Misty was now eyeing Drew's flowers with a glint in her eyes. "You got flowers."

"Huh? Oh, yeah" May smiled uneasily. "I got flowers…Actually; I kind of have a problem with them."

"What's the problem? He's obviously such a nice guy, absolutely perfect for you." Misty was pretending to examine her nails, but May could definitely hear the harsh, breaking quality as she said the last three words.

"Misty." May said, concerned, "What's wrong?"

"I told you-"

"We've been friends since the playpen, Mist. You can't fool me. Just tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong!" Misty lied angrily. "I got flowers too, y'know!"

May smiled widely. _Ash went through with it! _"Really! From who?"

"Oh, probably from someone who doesn't mean it." Misty said carelessly.

May frowned again. She wanted to shake her hard and scream: _Someone who doesn't mean it? He's liked you since the seventh grade! Of course he means it! _"What makes you say that?"

Misty scowled. "I know for a fact that he sent someone else flowers too. He sent her a bouquet."

_Wait a second… I only gave him one bouquet! _May thought, troubled. "Well, how do you know?"

"Because I know her!" Misty said loudly. _She's been my friend forever and she just stole the boy she knew I was crushing on. She's YOU! _She wanted to shout.

May jumped at the sudden change in volume in her best friend's voice. "Misty, come on…. just tell me what's wrong."

"But don't you want to who it was, May? Who else got the flowers and wrecked my hopes of an actual good Valentine's Day?"

"Misty…."

"Go on, ask!" Misty hotly demanded, but she almost sounded like she was choking on something.

"Okay… Who else got flowers for your guy, Mist?"

Misty was dead silent for a moment, avoiding May's concerned face. Finally, she whispered, "You." After that was said, she looked into her best friend's eyes.

May couldn't help it. She laughed.

Misty turned red again. "How's that funny, May Maple?"

"It…it just is!" May couldn't stop the peals of laughter coming from her mouth. "Ash and I? That's just the funniest thing I've heard in all my life!" And with that, May collapsed in giggles again.

Misty felt a sudden rush of cool relief pass over her, like a tide. "Then you…?"

"No!" May gasped, trying to stop laughing. "These- these flowers," she pointed to the roses, "are from Drew!"

"No!" Misty gasped, suddenly feeling very stupid. Suddenly, she found herself laughing a bit herself.

After they both contained themselves, May asked "Did you seriously think we'd get together?"

"It's been the three of us since…well, forever. If you think about it, it's natural for you to like Ash too." Misty said awkwardly.

May giggled some more. "Please, Mist! He's like a brother!"

Misty couldn't help but laugh again, feeling a heavy burden lift from her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I was being stupid. Can you forgive my momentary lapse in sanity?"

"Of course!"

Misty grinned. "Now…" she scooted her chair closer to her best friend. "Tell me all about it.

May did tell her all about it. When she finally got to the part of him leaving, Misty groaned. "Aw, May! Of course he meant it! What were you thinking?"

"Hey, what was I supposed to think?" May said defensively. "You remember Drew, right? He used to make fun of my outfits and laugh whenever I tripped!"

"And he used to bring you flowers for your birthday." Misty pointed out. This was true, May recalled. For her birthday and holidays, Drew would just say 'Here, take it. You should have something pretty to look at to compensate for your odd reflection .'

A real charmer, that Drew Hayden.

"But seriously, at least he gave you flowers face to face, even though you're confused about him."

May perked up at that. "Wait, Ash didn't give you to them in person?"

Misty scoffed. "No, but he left the rose on my desk and a little note." She smiled a little, blushing. "The note almost made up for it. He wants it to be a big surprise and he wants to meet me by the track field."

"Well," May said, fighting off the dread seeping in her stomach, "A rose given indirectly is better than no rose at all." _Even though I gave Ash carnations, not roses…_

* * *

DaMasta: have u cn brock 2day?

OrAnGePENGUIN!: nope. whts up?

DaMasta: hes not in math and i get 2 suffer alone

OrAnGePENGUIN!: haha! suxs to be u!

DaMasta: real funny. i need 2 talk 2 him. i know hes in school i saw him b4 class

OrAnGePENGUIN!: cutting? thats not like him…

DaMasta: im worried about him

OrAnGePENGUIN!: ha, u should worry 4 me. dawns really mad about something….

DaMasta: good luck with that! g2g l8er

Kenny sighed as Ash logged off of IM. He would need all the luck in the world with his best friend. Sure, Dee Dee was normally bubbly but whenever Paul came into the picture, she became a hopeless mess, bouncing from a love struck girl and a depressed one. Today he'd already saw moaning Dawn. But instead of giggling Dawn, there was angry Dawn in her place.

Kenny looked at his best friend. Her mouth was set into a firm line, and fire sparking in her eyes as she pounded on the keys on her computer. He seriously doubted the math program that they were supposed to be working on got her all riled up.

"So…what's up?" Kenny asked her casually.

"What do you think of this comeback?" Dawn ignored the question."' The jerk store called. They're running out of you!'"

"Um… that sounds a little stupid."

"I like it. Maybe I'll use it. What about: 'We all sprang from apes. Apparently, you didn't spring far enough'?"

"Dawn, what the hell are you doing?" Kenny looked over her shoulder. "Why are you googling insults and comebacks?"

"Because Paul's a… a… a jerkwad!" Dawn angrily snapped back.

Kenny blinked. "I didn't think anyone used jerkwad anymore. And since when has Paul been a jerk?"

"Since I got partnered up with him for a project in Journalism." Dawn's fingers punched the keys with more force. "He's… ooh, I can't even find words to describe him!"

"Jenness! Don't break the keyboard! That's school property!" Professor Wattson boomed over the clattering of keys.

"Sorry, sir." she mumbled, tapping on the keyboard a little more lightly than before.

"Just tell me the whole story, Dee Dee. I don't get it." Kenny coaxed her. Besides, Dawn's taste in insults was horrific. Heaven forbid she tried to use 'I really hope you get assaulted by a Charizard' again...

Dawn sighed and pushed the keyboard away from her. Turning to look at Kenny, she said "I don't know what happened. Once second I was just thinking I was the luckiest girl in the world for getting to be his partner. And you know how I used to glance at him at a distance? Well, I got to see him up close and personal. And he's so handsome Kenny!" a light dusting of pink coated her cheeks. "His hair was lighter than it seemed, and yet darker at the dame time…and his eyes were so dark I almost thought I would-"

"Um, Dawn? The point?"

"Oh, right!" she shook her head, clearing the perfect image that was Paul out of her mind. "So I sat down and we started talking. Or at least I tried to have a civil conversation with him. He just started insulting me. I didn't do anything to provoke it; he just started calling me stupid."

"Are you serious?" Kenny said incredulously. "Who'd do something like that?"

"I don't know!" Dawn snapped, snatching the keyboard again. "I can't think of any good insults, Kenny. You know that. So I'm looking up some good ones that I can use on him when I see him in History."

He thoughtfully tapped his finger against his chin. "Look on the bright side. At least he noticed you."

"Kenny, he insulted me!"

"Okay, okay. Well, at least you know what he's like now. You can forget the imbecile."

"Forget him? Ha! I'll be back for round two!"

"Dawn." Kenny's tone made her stop typing. She turned to look at her best friend. Kenny's face was set in somber expression, eyes staring in hers. "You've been crushing on this guy for half a year now. He didn't know you existed, and you barely even knew the guy. Now you know he's a bit of a jerk. Don't you think it's time to let go?"

Dawn looked into his eyes for a minute, not speaking. Holding his gaze with her indigo eyes, she quietly said "You know it's not that easy. " She tore her eyes away from Kenny, pretending to be engrossed in the computer. But she couldn't forget the light crawling into his eyes.

It was pity.

* * *

**Author Notes: **The chapters get progressively longer from here... actually, this one was a whopping six pages! So, just be forewarned, things get longer...and more interesting!

What does Brock have planned? Will May do something about the flower mix-up? And what about Dawn's insult war with Paul... and her feelings?

You'll all have to read on, of course!

Until next time,

Paper-Dreams-Are-Made-Of-These


	6. Fifth Period

**S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou

**.:Fifth Period:.**

* * *

"May!"

May jumped a foot in the air when Brock tapped her on the shoulder. When she whipped around to see who was walking behind her, she relaxed. "Brock, don't do that! I nearly jumped out of my skin!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Brock was now walking along her. "But I have a huge favor to ask you."

But May didn't hear him. "Where have you _been_ all day? We missed you in Telecom, and Ash told me you came in this morning! He's getting worried, we all are. You should find him and tell him that you're not dead after all-"

"May, this is important." Brock cut off her ramblings. "Do you still have the key to the Telecom Room?"

"Of course!" she couldn't help but smile. As lead anchor, Professor Volkner did give her more responsibilities over the other students, such as holding a copy of the key.

"I need to borrow it."

May spluttered in astonishment. "What?!"

"I need to borrow the key to the Telecom Room. Right now." Brock spoke in a soft undertone, but his face was resolute.

"Brock, you know Professor Volkner will find out. We have to be down there in thirty minutes to air _GHS Live_!"

"Come on May. I just screwed up the best thing in my life in five minutes. Please, just let me borrow your key to fix it." Brock pleaded. "You know I won't break the cameras or the sound system. Trust me."

May hesitated for a second. This was all strange. Brock was MIA all day, and now just asking for the Telecom key. But she trusted Brock. Digging in her bag for her key ring, she said "All right." She handed it to him, "It's the gold key, which shouldn't be too hard since the only thing on that are key chains."

"Thanks." Brock smiled easily. "And about _GHS Live_? Don't bother coming down today."

"Okay, Brock, tell me what's going on now. I'm getting really worried!" May insisted, almost stopping in the crowded hallway.

"I'll tell you later. I promise!" And with that, Brock easily slipped off into the opposite direction.

May just shook her head, chestnut hair swaying, and continued to her English class. _Well, at least I can tell Ash that Brock's not dead._

* * *

While Professor Roark gave another lecture about fossils, Paul leafed through the notebook again. Many of his classmates could help but stare at him, thumbing through a very girly notebook. He paid very little notice to the lecture or his classmates.

Dawn's drawings; while childish and had the depth of a first grader, were very amusing. Once in a while, there were stickers of Piplups, Swinubs, Aipoms, and Bunearies, often covering up the margins. He turned the pages to his favorites- the chibi stylings of her teachers. Wattson was a round, hysterically laughing man. Fantina was a diva that towered above the other sketches. Norman was hippie, lying in the grass with shades on.

The notebook's first impression of the owner was dead on- not too bright, from what Paul saw from second period. She looked like a naïve, silly freshman.

Paul smirked again, remembering their partnership in Journalism. Their presentation basically consisted of Dawn angrily saying their presentation. He wrote it down on a piece of paper, "Just in case you can't remember it all," he said.

It was fun to taunt Dawn. He never got much entertainment, especially when he was stuck in this hell with fluorescent lights. It was interesting to watch her face change colors from pink blushing, to ghostly white, and finally, enraged purple. She obviously didn't have a quick mind to come up with good comebacks. The sinking expression of her face as she struggled to find the perfect insult was almost hilarious to watch.

_I almost can't wait for round two. _Paul grinned almost wolfishly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dawn was not thinking about her impending battle with Paul. She was not thinking about insults. She was thinking about art.

She had just finished her latest drawing. It was a sketch of Paul, exaggerating his busy eyebrows over his glowering eyes. His chin, while slightly angular in reality, Dawn drew like a triangle jutting out grotesquely from his face. The ashen mane was frizzy and looked like it had a mind of its own on the paper. _All in all, _Dawn stifled a half-hearted giggle; _he looks like a very sharp, very hairy lion!_

She thought it would've been more satisfying to draw this, but it felt empty. Maybe because it was what she normally drew- cutesy doodles.

Dawn sighed, ignoring Professor Byron's demonstration. _I know I'm good at this stuff- little characters and chibi drawings… but that's not really challenging. It's not something I could make into a painting or put into an exhibition. It's not something I can call myself an artist for._ And more than anything, Dawn wanted to be an artist. She wanted to express herself with paints and pencils, she wanted people to see her work and understand what she was feeling. She wanted to share emotions with the world.

_But there's nothing emotional about my sketches. Nothing emotional at all._

Dawn sighed again. All her friends told her that she had talent and it was a waste for not signing up for art classes. She simply laughed and said that she enjoyed all the free time she had with Journalism. She could lie to her friends, and laugh about it all she wanted, but at the end of the day, she knew why she wasn't in Art Fundamentals.

She was afraid that her fears were right. Dawn was afraid to discover she had no creative talent.

* * *

"Aw, look, it's the lovebirds!" Gary Oak crowed annoyingly. "So I guess the rumors are true, Ashy-boy!"

"Gary, shut up!" Ash growled. "WE ARE NOT A COUPLE! And if you say that one more time-"

"Ash, just let him be." May said noncommittally. She was busy trying to finish her grammar worksheet. "Gary will be Gary, no matter what you do."

Ash sat down in his seat again, clutching his pencil in his fist. "Why are you so calm? When Misty finds out-"

"Misty already knows." May said. "Do you know what a prepositional is? I forgot…"

"SHE KNOWS?!" At this, the pencil did break in two, and a piece of lead hit Ash on the cheek.

May sighed. "Calm down, Ash. I already explained to her who gave me the flowers and we had a good laugh about it. That drama was so last period."

"Oh good." Ash exhaled, rubbing his cheek. "And it wouldn't kill you to tell me this! Last period I wasn't there!"

May stopped her homework and looked up at Ash with some irritation. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't text you to let you know. I was kinda dealing with the information that you didn't give Misty the flowers! At all!" she hissed.

Ash gulped. He knew that tone. "May, I swear, I was going to go through with the plan! But someone just beat me to the punch. What else can I do?"

May stared at him for a moment, and then her face contorted in anger. "What else can you do?! You're Ash Ketchum! What happened to the Ash Ketchum I grew up with? The one who fearlessly take on any challenge, who wouldn't take no for an answer? What happened to that guy?"

"He got afraid of ruining something amazing." Ash's quiet voice halted May's fury right in its tracks. "She's… important to me, May. She looked so happy when she got that flower, I just didn't want to screw it up. I never want to screw things up with Misty."

"You idiot!" May flared up again. "You know who she thought that rose was from, Ash? She thought it was from you! She was gushing about it because she thought it was from the boy of her dreams!" she sighed. "Oh, Ash. How could even think that she'd like some other guy?"

Ash just shrugged. "You told me this morning of I didn't act soon, someone else would. And you're right. I'm too late."

"So that's it?" May asked him bitterly. "You're just going to give up."

"I guess so…" Ash murmured, feeling like someone just punched him in the stomach.

May stared at her best friend for the longest time before speaking. "Ash, do you know how she reacted to the thought of us? She looked miserable. She looked like she just lost the most important thing in her life. And you know what? She's going to get her heart broken when you're not waiting for her at the track field. She's expecting a Valentine's Day miracle. She's expecting you to be there. So you could either just walk away, watch this guy sweep her off her feet. And you can just swallow your feelings. Or you could run to the track field as fast as you can so you can tell her how you feel before she makes a big mistake. It's your choice."

And with that, May silently watched her words sink in for a moment. Slowly, she returned to work on her grammar worksheet. After a moment, she added a few more words of wisdom. "It's never too late. Just remember that. "

Ash let her words weigh heavily on his mind. Eventually, he nodded. "I will, May. I will."

A small click was heard overhead. Professor Blaine, who was busy with a riddle book, looked up. "Oh, is it time for the announcements?"

"Hey, wait a second," something dawned on Ash, "aren't you supposed to be down there?" he asked May as Professor Blaine scurried to the television set.

"It's a long story that I don't have all the answers to yet. All I can say is, apparently not." May responded. The familiar theme music of _GHS Live! _played over the intercom. When the black screen cut to the Telecom Room, May gasped.

"Oh. My. God."

Ash asked in surprise, "Is that—

* * *

"_Brock?!_" Suzy yelped, nearly jumping out her chair

Yes, Brock Slade was sitting calmly in front of the camera. Suzy knew was a technician for the announcements, but she never expected to see him on screen! What on earth was he _doing_ there?

"Hey, Goldenrod High." Brock said easily, as if he was talking to a friend and not the entire student body. "I'm sure we have some announcements that the teachers would want me- or other anchors- to read, but to be honest? I really don't care."

The students of Animal Sciences II buzzed around Suzy, but she couldn't hear them. All of her attention was solely focused on Brock.

"And while we're on the matter of honesty, I'll be straight with you all. We all know I'm not supposed to be here. I'm a technician, not an anchor. In fact, as soon as Volkner manages to get in here, I'm probably going to be dead." Brock chuckled, as if it was a joke.

"I'm not here as a prank, I'm not doing this for fame and glory. I'm doing this for my girlfriend."

Suzy's heart leaped into her throat. _For me…?_

"That jerk!" Zoey screamed at the TV screen, jumping up.

"Zoey, shut up, just hear him out." Kenny said from his seat behind her. He was engrossed as everyone else was.

"That's right," Brock continued, with a small smile, "I'm doing this for you, Suzy. I know screwed up sometimes- okay, 95% of the time- but you know I don't want to be with anyone else but you. I know you saw this morning as the final straw, but Suzy- I don't like Erika. Hell, I don't even _know _Erika! Faulkner Mitler asked me to do it as a favor, since he has a crush on Erika for a month now. He was running late and asked me to put the stuff on her car." Brock paused. "Oh, by the way Faulkner, the wreath and balloons I left on Erika's car? They managed to get free. They're flying over the school right now."

"Damn it!" Faulkner, sitting in the last row, leaped out of his seat and ran out of the classroom. Erika blushed heavily.

"I know it wasn't your fault for breaking up with me, though. Because, let's face it, I'm girl crazy! I couldn't stop staring at other girls…even though I had the perfect one with me all along." He sighed heavily. "I was just too stupid to see it before. And for that, Suzy, I truly am sorry."

"But, trust me; I would not give this moment up for the world. If you hadn't broken up with me, I would have never seen that I love you, Suzy. I know we say it all the time, but that was the way any teenager would tell his girlfriend. This is the first time I mean it from the bottom of my heart." Suzy felt her heart leap into her throat.

"You're the girl I want to spend every day with, every Valentine's Day with." Brock then turned around and picked up an acoustic guitar. "You're the girl I want to grow old with."

He then strummed the strings, gently at first, but harder as he went on. And to Suzy's amazement, he began to sing_. "I __wanna make you smile, whenever you're sad, Carry you around when your arthritis is bad…"_

Suzy laughed, almost choking on the lump in her throat. Brock could do many things well. He could cook, he could help her study for her exams, he could assuage her fears, but singing was not one of them. Oh, sure, he could sing, but this song was not made for his deep, voice. His voice stumbled and cracked as he tried to sing the high notes. Nonetheless, she felt her eyes get pricked by tears.

"_I'll miss you, kiss you, Give you my coat when you are cold, Need you, Feed you,_" Brock had sung in low notes, not even bothering to try hitting them as high as he could, "_Even let you hold the remote control" _he warbled on 'control'. Suzy had smiled, giggling as Brock had put his own spin on the song.

"_So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink, Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink_," Brock had slowed to a small pace. Finally, he strummed the last four chords. "_I could be the man that grows old with you…Oh, I wanna grow old with you…_"

Suzy laughed, wiping her eyes with a finger. The classroom erupted into applause and cheers. Even Zoey grinned.

Over the applause, no one noticed that Professor Volkner finally managed to get in the Telecom room and cut the feed.

* * *

**Author Notes: **Well, you all were close... but not quite! How romantic would that be if someone serenaded you in front of the whole school?I spent weeks trying to think of a perfect Brock-romantic song (and _no, _nothing along the lines of "Two Perfect Girls" or whatever the name of that song was) and the only one that fit well was that one! Oh, and I do not own The Wedding Singer or "I Wanna Grow Old With You" by Adam Sandler.

What's going to happen to Brock now that he hijacked the school news program to profess his love to Suzy? And will he (finally!) get the girl in the end? Will Dawn be prepared for her third encounter with Paul? Who will come out on top?

Stay tuned- we have one more period to go.


	7. Sixth Period

**S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou

**.:Sixth Period:.**

* * *

Five minutes in History, and Dawn was already bored out of her skull.

After lunch, all people could talk about was Brock's stunt for Suzy. Even in class, he could feel the hum of conversation around her. Sure, she was all for good gossip. But all the good details were hashed out at lunch with her friends. May, who secretly gave Brock the key, filled her in. By now, all of this was old news to her.

Professor Claire, the freshman history teacher had attempted to gain control over the class, but she gave up easily. She gave them a book work assignment instead. It was Friday, after all.

So, instead of going in on the conversations and wild rumors of Brock ("I heard they cut class to get married!" she heard someone squeal) she actually opened her textbook to page 179 and started answering the questions.

Unfortunately, she didn't get very far.

The door slammed open, and out of her peripheral vision, Dawn watched Professor Claire frown at Paul. "Late again?" she scolded him, "I'll have to give you a demerit, you know."

"Fine with me," Paul said coolly. He took the only free seat- the one next to Dawn.

_Perfect! _Dawn thought, fighting a triumphant grin off her face. Turning to him, she delivered a line she found on the internet: "Hey, tall, dark and obnoxious!"

Paul froze. _Well, that caught my attention_, He thought. Without even facing Dawn, he put his textbook on his desk and said, "If you haven't noticed, I'm not that tall, nor dark."

"But you are obnoxious." Dawn quickly picked up. This time, she did smile, a grim of pure triumph.

Paul paused, looking at Dawn. "Do I know you?"

Dawn blinked, before the offhanded comment sunk in. Then she growled, fiery rage sparking in her eyes. "Don't be stupid. Dawn! From Journalism!"

"Oh. I never forget a face, but I'm glad I made an exception in your case."

_Why, that- _Dawn inhaled and exhaled quickly. _Calm,_ she soothed herself. _If I just get angry, he'll get the upper hand_. "Well, that's too bad. I kept thinking about you all day… I just couldn't place where I've seen you before…." Dawn put a finger on her lips, pretending to be deep in thought. "I got it! Didn't we dissect you in Science class?"

"Aren't you forgetting something? We take Earth Science- you don't dissect anything in there." he retorted, smirking. "I wouldn't be surprised if you got that out of a joke book."

Dawn gritted her teeth at this true statement, not saying a word. She thought about her notebook, filled with sketches, and she thought about how she spent hours and hours drawing. She turned back to her class work, ignoring him.

Paul took her silence as a yes. "You shouldn't rip off other people's ideas." Dawn pressed her pencil hard on the paper. "Try to come up with your own. But I guess it's hard when you have that empty feeling in your skull. "

"Shut up." she whispered, barely audible.

"It's hard to be an artist when you don't have a creative bone in your body."

Those words were like body blows, hitting her hard in her chest. Suddenly, her throat was constricted and she had difficulty breathing, and she was suffocating on the words he just said. Dawn grabbed her messenger bag and ran.

She felt people's stares as the door slammed quietly behind her. Alone in the hallway, she collapsed against the wall opposite the classroom, breathing heavily. _How did he know…? How did he know of my drawings and sketches? My dreams of being an artist? How did he know? And how did he know what was my greatest fear? _

Regaining control over her breath, Dawn stood shakily. She suddenly had the impulse to run, to run far away from this building away from him. And for once in her life, she didn't want to fight it.

She began to walk down the hall when she heard the door shut.

"Missing this?"

Dawn turned around. Paul was standing there, holding a notebook. _My _notebook!

She ran over to him and snatched out of his hands. "You! You had it all day! I can't believe you!"

"I found it." Dawn scowled and turned, storming off. "Don't tell me you're leaving."

Once again, she turned to face Paul. She took in his strong face, his dark eyes, and his ashy hair. When she looked at him this time, she didn't see his muscular, handsome face or mesmerizing dark eyes. She saw his arrogant, ugly sneer, a smile that never reached his eyes. She saw dark eyes, yes, but they weren't as captivating as before. They seemed empty and hollow.

"You know something Paul?" Dawn said suddenly. "I used to have a crush on you. But you probably knew that if you started making fun of my drawings." She waved her notebook. By the looks of Paul's arrogant smile, she was right. "But I just realized something, something that just cured a six-month crush. I didn't really know you at all. I knew your name and what classes we shared. I knew what you looked like and what you would do with the spare class time. I kept trying to imagine you with a personality, and I kept failing." Dawn exhaled deeply. "But I didn't know you. "

"And now, after today, I think I do know you, just a tiny bit more than I did yesterday. I mean, I know a lot of jerks, but you're above that name. You're an asshole, Paul. A genuine asshole." Dawn trembled a bit, fighting off pushing tears. "You found my dreams that I've been practicing all my life and you ripped them apart in one minute. Congratulations."

"Sure, it was a fun little game, Paul, fun while it lasted. But what happens now? I walk away with my hopes in pieces, but I can put my dreams back together, and I've got friends to support me. But what about you? What do you have? At the end of the day, you're still alone." She paused, looking into his face for the longest time. His sneer had transformed into a frown. "Think about that."

Dawn turned again, clutching her notebook to her chest, and started walking away. But she spun on her heels one last time. "You should do some soul-searching," she told him, ice forming on her words, "Maybe you'll find one."

Dawn did not wait to see his reaction to those words. She turned around and walked confidently. This time she never looked back.

* * *

"Hello, dearie!" the elderly secretary said to Brock as he slipped into the office. "Principal Cynthia will be with you in a couple minutes." She smiled at him, making her face seem more wrinkly.

"Okay, thanks." The old woman nodded to him and continued typing. He took a seat, not feeling very thankful at all. He just felt like running out of the room. Brock sighed. _This will all be worth it if Suzy saw that, though_, he reminded himself. And it would be. It's just too bad that he wouldn't know until he was done here.

He watched the clock's second hand tick by silently. Then minutes.

"When will she be able to see me?" Brock asked the secretary.

"Oh, any time soon, dearie, anytime soon." She answered distractedly. "If anyone asks when I am, just tell them I went out to the copy machine." The old woman told Brock, standing up. With amazing speed, she hobbled out the door.

Brock sighed again. Anytime soon did not seem soon enough.

The door slowly creaked open. To his surprise, Suzy creeped though the doorway, smiling almost shyly at him. "I thought you would be here."

Brock laughed quietly. "The principal won't see me for another couple minutes. So take a seat."

Suzy looked around, and finding no adults, she did sit next to him. Awkwardly, they sat in silence, listening to the _tick, tock_ of the clock.

Brock almost couldn't believe that Suzy was sitting with him. After this morning's hellish events and all the plans, she almost seemed like a dream. He was almost afraid that he would wake up.

"So, I guess you caught _GHS Live! _today." Brock said out loud, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Suzy laughed, a soft musical laugh. "What were you thinking, Brock?"

He shrugged. "I was thinking that no one was letting me explain myself. And that I wanted to apologize for being such an idiot." He looked at her. "I was thinking that I wanted to be with you."

Suzy fell quiet again, feeling that lump form in her throat again. "Oh, Brock…"

Brock smiled.

"You know," Suzy found her voice, "No one's ever serenaded me before."

Brock laughed at that. "Well, it wasn't my first plan to spend my Valentine's Day."

"Oh?" Suzy giggled. Gently, she slipped her hand into his. "Well, I'm glad it worked out this way."

Brock once again drank Suzy in with his eyes. He could never think of another girl who was as beautiful as Suzy was after this hell of a day.

"Me too, Suzy. Me too."

* * *

May glanced at her bouquet of roses again and sighed. She'd helped out Ash easily; she just wished she knew what to do about Drew as well.

Fiddling with her flowers, a sudden memory flooded into her. On May's thirteenth birthday, Drew had given her flowers. _"Happy Birthday." _He'd said, thrusting the roses in her hands. _"Be careful with those. Those are thirteen of my best roses." _She remembered the shock of realizing that Drew was a gardener. His eyes softened as he watched May delicately smell his roses.

The ice in her stomache twisted in deeper. What if….what if he grew those too? _Oh, no_. May's heart plummeted. _I didn't just insult him. I insulted his prized flowers!_

_No. _she fought off the feeling of guilt._ This isn't about how I insulted him, isn't about how I hurt him. It's about how I feel about Drew._ She closed her eyes, just clearing her thoughts. _Drew was always handsome, always. But it was in a hard, graceful way. __He smile was always hard, almost mocking…but sometimes there was that split-second where it would melt into something softer. Sometimes, later on in the year, the stony traces would fade away easier. His eyes would glow when I asked him about his flowers. And when I told him stupid jokes, that sarcastic, complex smile would be forgotten and he would laugh; his perfect, amazing laugh…_

_That was the Drew I knew._

"May, could we talk for a second?"

May opened her eyes to see a girls standing next to her. One was a petite girl with reddish- brown hair. Her eyes were brilliantly aquamarine, but had an anxious tint to them. The other was a tall, shapely girl with luxurious curls of blonde hair. She stood her hands on her hips and had a look of determination in them. "Um, okay." She tried to recall their names, but failed. "I'm sorry," she said, half-laughing at herself. "I'm really bad with names. You guys are?"

The brunette opened her mouth to answer, but the blonde cut her off. "I'm Lauren. And this is Brianna."

"Well, hi!" May chirped. "What's up?"

"Are you familiar with the Drew Hayden Fan Club?" Lauren asked bluntly.

She blinked. The what? "No, I don't think I am."

"I didn't think so," Lauren purred. "I am the President of the Drew Fan Club. And I'm sorry to say that you broke one of the cardinal rules. "

"Which is?" May had a sinking feeling about where this was going.

"You do not make a play for the Prince."

"You've got to be kidding me." she laughed in disbelief. She didn't know what was stranger- that this girl was seriously telling her to back off or that they were using Drew's nickname so reverently. Lauren smiled, in a predatory way. May glanced at Brianna, who wouldn't make eye contact.

"I'm afraid not." Lauren icily responded. "We are strict on that."

"I hate to tell you this," May actually felt no remorse at all "but not only am I not a member of your…club, I did not make a 'play' for him."

Lauren threw her gorgeous blonde hair of her shoulders as she laughed deeply. "Oh, May. We don't care if you're in the club or not. We want you to stop lying about our Drew and leave him be."

_**Our**__ Drew? _"Who said I was lying? Drew gave me those roses, not someone else!"

"Are you sure your 'friend' Ash didn't, May?" Lauren's voice had a dangerous edge to it.

Realization dawned on her. "It was you who started that rumor!"

"The Club has to protect our Drew from girls like you."

May glared at the taller girl. "'Your Drew'? He's not yours, he's not anyone's! You're talking about him like he's a possession, not a person. He has his own thoughts, his own dreams, and his own wants! He can't be owned by a club. He should do whatever he wants, and if that means giving me or any girl flowers, then so be it!" Lauren gasped, and Brianna smiled shyly, but a flush of excited pleasure flared in May as she said the last words "But he picked me. So deal with it."

"Why, you little—" Lauren spat out, all honey dried up from her voice.

"Delivery!" A boy called from the doorway of the Math class. He was holding a bouquet of deep red roses.

"Splendid!" Wattson boomed. "Who's it for?"

"A" the boy flipped over the card that was attached to them, "May Maple?" May blushed brilliant pink. Noticing, the boy walked over and gave her the roses. "I guess that's you!" When the boy left, she looked on the delivery receipt- To: May Maple. From: Drew Hayden

"I'm sorry, Lauren," May smiled evilly, placing the receipt on her desk so she could clearly see Drew's name on the sender line. "but it seems our conversation is over. " Lauren flushed a bright scarlet, and gave a 'humph!' while she stomped back to her computer, gorgeous flaxen hair bouncing wildly as she huffed away.

"I'm sorry for that," Brianna said. "I'm not as fanatical as Lauren is, and I'm really sorry she ruined your day like that." a small smile of apology hesitantly made its way to her lips.

"Oh, it's okay." May told her. "In fact, if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have realized some things."

When Brianna left for her own seat, May opened the note that was addressed to her.

_May-_

_A rose for every month I've missed you. As a friend and my chance._

_-__Drew_

May counted quickly. There were eight roses.

She shut the note gently, not bothering to fight off the wide, dreamy smile off her face.

* * *

Ash stared unblinkingly at Professor Roark, and appeared to be engrossed in the lecture. Instead, May's voice echoed in his ears and rolled around in his brain

" _She's expecting a Valentine's Day miracle. She's expecting you to be there, waiting for her, to finally tell her what she's been questioning for two years…" _May's voice whispered.

_Misty wanted a Valentine's Day miracle and I'm not sure if I can give her one. _Ash thought bitterly. _Misty has and always would be a romantic._ When everyone was reading Pokémon manga, she was reading romantic novels that where two hundred pages long. When other girls were gossiping about which boy was the cutest in the class, Misty was dreaming of her prince charming.

_And Prince Charming has always been the same guy since the fourth grade: handsome, suave, tall, and knows exactly what to say at the right time A guy who'll take her out to fancy candlelight restaurants and recite sonnets. Everything—everything that I'm not. _Ash gritted his teeth to remind himself that.

_And this guy might be Prince Charming._

_"So, you're just going to give up?" _May's voice asked him.

_Misty deserves all that!, _he argued. _She deserves someone who will give her roses and sweet compliments, and poems devoted to her. She deserves to be happy! _

May's disembodied voice was silent in his head. Ash smirked. He won.

And yet…

He couldn't fight off the sick feeling in his stomach at what he just said. He couldn't imagine Misty, with some other guy. He didn't want to see some guy take her on dates and reading her poems. His gut wrenched every time he even thought about Misty with another guy. Another guy holding her hand, hugging her, kissing her…

Ash clenched his fist, accidently crumpling up the class work that was underneath it. _I've already went through that hell with Rudy. And I can't do it again. I won't let it happen again!_

* * *

_Finally! _Misty thought when the last bell rang. She snatched up her backpack and bolted out of the door before her other classmates were getting up.

_This is it!_ Excitement seeped into her heart, making it beat quicker as she pushed open a metal door leading outside. The February air hit her straight on with breathtakingchill. _It's finally going to happen! All those years of dreaming and wishing are finally going to happen!_

She no longer cared about why Ash left a secret admirer note and asked to see her after class. The only thing she cared about while running to meet the guy of her dreams. _And he said I was the girl of his dreams! _Misty blushed almost as red as her hair. _The woman of his dreams!_

_One more corner and then we'll live happily- _Misty smiled, and rounded the bend, finding herself in front of the track field.

She slowed to a stop, as if her heart and her high spirits sank to her feet and weighed her down. It wasn't Ash waiting for her at all. "Y-you?!"

* * *

**Author Notes: **You all didn't think it would end there, did you? :) I promise, one chapter left... if you can all stomache the OOC. Sorry if everyone seems crazy in this, but I can't help it.

Since Dawn actually told Paul off, what's going to happen now? Brock's got Suzy back...but what happens from here? Will May find Drew before the fangirls get to him first? Who's the guy waiting for Misty if it's not Ash? And will Ash get there before it's too late?

**_WARNING: _**Major OOC next chapter. Don't like, don't review please.


	8. After School

**S**omeone **L**ike **Y**ou

**.:After School:.**

* * *

"Hello, Misty." Rudy smiled at his ex-girlfriend. Standing in front of the chain link fence, his thick maroon locks swirled with the small February breeze. For the first time, Misty could feel the breathtaking cold. She felt her skin erupt into gooseflesh. She couldn't find her voice.

"What's the matter?" Rudy loftily asked. "Surprised?"

"You?" Misty choked out finally. "You're my secret admirer?"

"Yes." The smile had no friendliness to it; it was written on his handsome face with hatred.

Misty was speechless again, feeling the wind whistle though her. _But… this wasn't how it was supposed to end…_ she thought numbly. _It's supposed to be Ash, not Rudy…_

Faintly, she heard Rudy speak again. "You looked so shocked, Misty. Were you expecting someone else?" Misty swallowed, trying to make the lump in her throat vanish. "I thought so." He laughed harshly. "Well, don't worry. I didn't want to get back together."

"Then _why?_" asked Misty.

"I wanted to see your face." Rudy's attractive face warped into something hideous. His dark eyes flashed with spite, eyebrows arched in a jutting way that almost looked like a crown for his forehead. His mouth twisted into an ugly, gnarled sneer. "I wanted to see your _beautiful_ face-" Rudy almost spat, "when you found out that it was all a joke, that your hopes were all for nothing. I wanted to break them all like you broke mine."

_So that's all that this was, _she hollowly thought. _A cruel joke. _Her stomach felt as if it plummeted a thousand feet. She struggled to recover, closing her eyes to think of something to say back, something strong.

Suddenly, there was a sound of a metallic rustling and a grunt. "What the hell-" Rudy snarled, but he was cut off by another grunt. The sound of a landing blow made Misty look up.

Ash Ketchum had shoved Rudy against the chain-link fence and held a fist threateningly close to his face. Rudy had an angry red welt on his cheek, all arrogant confidence gone. He simply looked scared out of his mind. He was pale and his eyes were wide, not staring at the fist, but boy.

Misty had never seen Ash so angry before. His normally goofy face had a odd look to it. His jaw was clenched and his cheeks were flushed with rage. Ash's body was taut and unmoving except for the rise and fall of it from his rapidly beating heart. . But it wasn't his expression or his rigidness wasn't what made Rudy still. It was his eyes. His friendly cocoa eyes had a hard and unrelenting gleam to it, something wild and untamable.

Exhaling quickly, Ash finally growled to Rudy. "You ASSHOLE."

"H-hey, calm down!" Rudy stuttered. "It was only a joke-"

"You think this is a _JOKE?_ What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you know how many people struggle with telling someone that they like them _a day?_ _THOUSANDS!_ It's not a game, when someone's feelings are on the line." Ash shoved him one last time against the fence. "Remember that time when you want to play a prank."

As soon as Ash let Rudy go, he stumbled. Looking from Ash to Misty, he rubbed his cheek and muttered "You're not worth it." Rudy tried to walk away with whatever dignity he had left.

The two were quiet as Ash tried to calm himself down .

"You didn't need to do that, Ash." she said quietly.

"Yeah, I did, Mist." Ash haggardly exhaled. "Yeah, I did."

Misty laughed. It was laced with sadness and the truth of Rudy's words. "No you didn't. It's true. I set my own hopes too high, expecting something good to come out of this."

"You can't seriously think this is your fault!"

"It is! If I hadn't been such a romantic idiot, I wouldn't have gotten myself hurt in the first place." She didn't say _If I didn't spend all my times wishing for you, I wouldn't have gotten hurt_.

Ash was now standing in front of her. "Are you kidding me?" Ash said disbelievingly. "You're normal, Misty. You want someone to be there for you, someone to tell you how petty you are, someone to like you. That's natural." He groaned. "If anyone should get the blame, it should be me."

"_Your_ fault? How is this your fault?"

"For not saying anything sooner!" Ash raised his voice, turning pink. He ran a gloved hand through his tousled black hair. "Look, Misty," he started, finding it impossible to look into her eyes. "I- I…" stuttered, looking at his feet. _Come on, get it out! You can do it! _

"What is it, Ash? You can tell me." Misty said worriedly.

_You can tell me anything…_

Ash was suddenly flooded with images with Misty. Misty smiling brightly, her ocean eyes sparkling brilliantly. Misty, concerned and attentive, always there to listen to whatever his problems were. Misty laughing so hard she doubled over. Misty angrily studying because she was so mad that she got a Con the one little test and needed to beat out the best in her class. Misty crying over a sappy movie, just because it didn't end happily ever after.

And in that moment, he found the words.

"I really like you." Ash said, holding her eyes with his. "I've liked you since the seventh grade."

He exhaled deeply and opened his backpack. After rummaging through it, he found the plastic bag. "I wanted to give these to you sooner but Rudy screwed my timing up." Unwrapping it slowly, he gave Misty the bouquet of carnations.

"I know they're not roses." Ash said finally, "and I don't know anything about romance but what I've seen in your movies. But I know everything about you. I know how you like to watch those chick-flicks, even thought you know how most of them end. I know you love your friends more than anything in the world. And I know which bugs you hate the most. I know how amazing you are, inside and out. " He stopped, willing himself to finish. "I know I don't measure up to your criteria. But don't count me out."

Misty was speechless. _Did he just?!- _

Ash took her silence as a no. "I understand." He turned to leave.

Then Misty found her voice. "Ash Ketchum, you don't seriously believe that, do you?"

Ash turned. Misty smiled, holding the carnations with such reverence. She was positively glowing. "If I've learned anything from this day, it's to don't expect anything. That ideal guy, the one I made up when I was little? Sure, he might be out there. But the perfect guy isn't always the right guy for me."

She stepped closer to Ash. "I know you don't know anything about his stuff," she said gently, taking his hand. "but I don't either. I thought that romance was roses and sonnets and fancy restaurants. But that's not it at all. I mean, you don't know any poems on the top of your head… and you sometimes annoy me so much you make me want to smack you. But," she added, giggling, "after all the annoyances and tripping over your tongue, you still end up saying the right thing. "

Misty looked into his warm, grinning eyes, and said. "Sometimes love isn't about finding the guy that offers roses and candlelight. It's about finding someone that likes you for who you are. Someone like you, Ash. And guess what? I kinda like you too."

Before Ash could say anything more, Misty placed her lips on his. When they kissed, it wasn't fiercely passionate. It had the heat of a dying fire on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was a slow, tender kiss that pushed all other thoughts out of his mind. There was no February cold nipping at them, no high school, no Rudy, no outside world. It pushed the entire world away until there was only him and Misty.

When Misty pulled away, all Ash could do was blush a heavy red and grin. "Wow."

"Yeah…" Misty looked dreamy. "Wow." she repeated.

An idea hit him. "Come on!" he grabbed Misty's hand and started running.

"Where are we going?" Misty asked, struggling to keep up.

"Our first date! I was thinking we could go to the Deli!"

Misty laughed. "No way are we having our first date at Goldenrod Deli. What about The Pan?"

Ash groaned. "That weird bread store? Really, Mist?"

"What's wrong with it? It's my favorite place!"

"Fine," Ash said playfully. "I'll just pick the next place."

Somehow, they both thought this was funny and burst into giggles. Laughing to themselves, Ash and Misty ran as fast they could, hand in hand.

* * *

May's flats click-clacked noisily as she ran as fast as she could without losing a shoe. She needed to find Drew as fast as she could. The presence of the Drew Stalker Club had pressed a sense of urgency in her. If they started the rumor… and if everyone knew about the rumor… what would Drew think if he heard it?

_Please let him be here…_she prayed when she tore down the Music corridor. _Yes!_ A flash of green was waiting for her at the end of the hallway. May click- clacked some more until she managed to skid to a stop in front of Drew.

"I…" she wheezed "I've been looking for you all over!"

Drew smiled. "I can see that."

"Give… give me a second…" May inhaled deeply. Finally catching her breath, she turned to face her old friend.

Drew was still as perfectly handsome as he was this morning, almost as untouched from this morning. He still was as graceful as a swan, cheekbones elegantly framing his emerald eyes.

But his eyes were as hard as diamonds, guarded and wary.

"I'm sorry I hurt you this morning." May blurted out. That was NOT was she was going to start off with. But the memories of Drew were swirling in her head, making it hurt to see him so stony.

"It's all right." he shrugged carelessly.

"No," May said. "It's not all right." After a small pause, she continued. "I didn't mean to hurt you. It was just…so surprising! I mean, we haven't talked in months and out of the blue you give me flowers… flowers that you probably grew yourself. And I'm very sorry."

"Well, " Drew said, his eyes softening, "I guess it was kind of out there."

"Kind of!" she laughed. "Don't you remember how we spent middle school? Just bickering back and forth constantly!"

"I missed the challenge." his mouth unturned into a classic Drew smirk.

May giggled some more, enjoying the easy banter. "I missed it too. I miss actually fighting with someone! I'm out of practice!"

"I'm not. I get lots of it from my stalkers."

"Oh, I actually got a little practice on them too this afternoon." May's giggles subsided. "Did… did you hear something about Ash and I?"

He shrugged again. "Yeah. In fact, the queen stalker told me herself."

May's heart sank. It was too late. "Oh." she sighed.

"You should've seen her face when I told her that I gave you those flowers."

Her mouth dropped open and another loud laugh boomed out. "You didn't!"

Drew grinned, almost deviously. "You should've seen her face! It was like a goldfish out of water!" Uncharacteristically, he started to laugh too. It was like a wild cadence of music, swirling in the wind.

May didn't realize how much she missed that sound until she heard it again.

After their laughs faded away, May started again. "So I've been thinking…." she found it impossible to look at Drew and his impossible perfection. "If… if I didn't make too much of a fool out of myself this morning, I was wondering if…it wouldn't be too crazy to say that I like you?"

She blushed bright pink.

That musical laugh reached her ears. "Not as crazy as it was to ask you to be my valentine after not seeing you for eight months."

May looked up to find not only was he smiling… but his eyes were filled with a glowing warmth that only a true smile could produce. She found herself smiling, returning the warmth.

"Come on," Drew held out his hand. "We've got a lot to catch up on."

Without any hesitation, May took it.

* * *

Sitting in the window seat of her favorite café, Dawn began to draw. No, she wouldn't do anymore characters of people she knew. She had pages filled with those. Dawn was tired of sticking to safe stuff that she used as a security blanket. If she learned anything from today (besides that Paul Rebolledo was an asshole) it was to step outside of her comfort zone.

If she wanted to be a real artist someday, she would have start somewhere. And somewhere wasn't with chibi sketches.

She flipped open her notebook to an empty page and began a rough sketch of her friends. She outlined Ash's goofy grin and slowly moved on to sketching Misty who was smacking Ash with a book. Dawn remembered to detail the odd cross between adoration and irritation in her face. Then, she meticulously worked on Brock- man, his head was so spiky! – who had a arm lovingly wrapped around a giggling Suzy. Suzy's eyes were alight with love and laughter, as she giggled with her boyfriend. May appeared slowly next to the loving couple, standing on her toes with a sunny smile on her face. Her pencil drew in Kenny, who would be standing in the middle of the fray, rolling his eyes, but with a smile on his face.

Dawn was starting to work on drawing herself when the door opened, letting its bells jingle. A dark shadow passed over her sketch. "Um, excuse me, I need the light. Would you mind-" she looked up to see a familiar face. The last word died on her tongue.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"It's a free country." Paul answered nonchalantly.

Dawn glared at him for a second and turned back to her sketch. "Well, move. You're blocking the light."

Paul did move- into the seat across from her. "Drawing something else?"

She looked up again, angered that he was at her table. She stopped drawing all together. "Look, I don't want to play anymore games, Paul. Just leave me and my unoriginal self in peace, okay?"

"Troublesome." Paul snorted as if that explained everything. The two sat in silence for a moment. "That actually looks interesting."

Dawn blinked. "Um… thanks. I guess. It would be better if I had a bigger not lined notebook though." she mused to herself.

He opened his backpack and rummaged through it until he found what he wanted. "Here." he carelessly threw it on top of her drawing.

Surprised, she picked it up. It was a wide dark blue book. Thumbing though it, she was the pages were as blank. A sketchbook!

Dawn looked up at Paul, an unspoken question in her eyes.

He shrugged. "People don't take you seriously if you're drawing in a notebook covered in Pokémon stickers.."

Dawn stared at the boy sitting across from her. "Okay, this is just too bizarre. You insult me, I insult you back, you humiliate me, I tell you that I have a crush on you and call you a jackass… and you buy me a sketchbook?"

Paul smirked. "What can I say? I like you. Obviously, I have no taste, but I like you."

She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Wow, I actually thought you were going to say something nice there for a second."

Dawn giggled again and continued to sketch. Paul waved a waiter and ordered coffee black. He stayed and watched Dawn work on her drawing.

When she finished drawing herself in the center of whirlwind activity, she started to draw a boy, who stood upright and crossed his arms. A boy who was as far away from the group as possible. A boy with grayish, shaggy hair and solemn expression on his face and mysterious dark eyes.

* * *

"You know, you didn't have to wait for me." Brock told Suzy as they exited Goldenrod High finally. After a long rant from the Principal, he had been sentenced to after-school detention. He had been surprised to see Suzy waiting for him right outside the Detention Hall.

Suzy playfully shoved him while they walked in the parking lot. "And what was I supposed to do for two hours? I barely have any homework and I have nothing to do. And besides, it's the least I could do after this hellish day!"

"Well," Brock said thoughtfully as he unlocked his car, "There is one thing you could do."

"Really?" she raised a graceful eyebrow. "And what may that be?"

"You could let me take you out for dinner tonight."

Suzy gasped. "Oh, Brock, no. You don't have to. I mean, you've already done so much. Detention, breaking into the Telecom room… taking on Zoey."

Brock laughed at the mention of Suzy's red-haired friend. "She was a formidable foe, let me tell you." When class had ended, Zoey found Brock and sheepishly apologized for overreacting and not hearing Brock out. Or, as she put it so eloquently, a 'bitch.'

"Seriously, Brock. You don't have to take me out for dinner. Let me make you something."

"Well, I have reservations at Café Lugi's for five. It would suck to waste them." Brock told her, starting his car.

"You mean…" something dawned on Suzy. "you've had something planned?"

"It is Valentine's Day." Brock smiled at her. He glanced at his watch. It was four o' clock. "We could still catch it."

Suzy was overwhelmed. Brock not only had fought for their relationship, he had sung in front of thousands of people for her, and all along he had dinner reservations at her favorite restaurant?

"Let's catch it then. But on three conditions. One, you let me cook you something next date."

"Of course!" Suzy's cooking even trumped his own gourmet.

"Not so fast! Two, we just go there now. As we are."

"But Suzy, you know it's a fancy restaurant! They could turn us out for wearing jeans." Brock argued.

Suzy smiled innocently "Do you want me to cook you something or not?"

He sighed. "Fine. What's the last condition?"

"Three is…" Suzy leaned over to the driver's seat and kissed him sweetly on the lips. She whispered into his ear "I love you."

"I love you too." he whispered back, grinning from ear to ear.

Brock started the car and put it in drive. As he pulled out of the Goldenrod High parking lot, Suzy just turned on the radio, letting the soft melody of Nat 'King' Cole wash over her. For a while, she watched the scenery fly past her, but then she turned to the boy next to her. And she couldn't help but smile.

Maybe Valentine's Day doesn't suck after all.

* * *

~ **_T_**_he **E**nd _~

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Hopefully, the OOC didn't kill anyone's soul.

Thank you all to who placed me on a author's alert, but I have some unfortunate news for you. I'm going on a hiatus for a while. Sure, I'll still log in and whatnot, (because I am a romantic at heart) but I don't know where to go from here. Maybe I'll come back with some new tales to tell.

Thank you all for reading this story. It makes me feel all warm inside to know that so many people enjoyed it. Hopefully, you all will get your happy endings. I hope you all find love in its many forms. Maybe you'll manage to get the **courage** to declare love (like Ash and Misty). Maybe you'll open your eyes and hearts and **find love**, or at least give it a shot (Like May and Drew). Even though things didn't turn out the way you planned, maybe you'll still have something-- a beginning, or **hope **(like Paul and Dawn). Or you could just put a second chance on it, just **try again** as Suzy did with Brock.

Whatever it is, I hope you all get there.

Happy Valentine's Day.


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